


Choke

by CherryCrows



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Past Abuse, Recovery, Spoilers, but it gets better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:33:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28500804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherryCrows/pseuds/CherryCrows
Summary: This is based on the final episode of season 3, I'd advise against reading this until you've watched all of it.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 73





	Choke

_Your vision swims and becomes blurry as the air around becomes thin. Grasping for it won't make things better, the sensation only gets tighter and tighter. Words echo, but you can't hear them, all you can feel is fingers and nails digging into the skin, biting and tearing your life away. The darkness is overwhelming. It wants to suck you in. Let it control you and make you give in._

_You're it's bitch._

_\---_

Johnny gasped for air as soon as the weight of the man on top of him was forced away, nails digging into the mat below as he forced his senses to come back to him. John Kreese, the son of a bitch, was talking awfully loud to himself. Or, at least, that's what Johnny could see. His vision was swimming, fading in and out as his eyes caught glimpse of a white shadow moving towards the darkness of a man. Then his eyes fell on Robby. Shifting up onto his hands and knees, Johnny crawled himself over to his son, checking to make sure that the boy wasn't harmed in the fight he was in previously with Kreese. Luck seemed to be on his side tonight, letting out a shaky breath of relief as he found that Robby was okay.

_The darkness, it wants to take you._

The sound of glass woke Johnny up from his mind, taking in a shaky breath as he turned towards the broken window of the dojo where he saw Daniel and Kreese going head-to-head. Finding his footing was difficult, but, as soon as he was able to climb on up and manage to stand, Johnny forced his body to walk towards the scene of the fight. His blood was boiling, his ears ringing in a way that has never before.

What was this feeling? It was familiar.

Rushing to the window, Johnny looked to Kreese on his knees, seeing the power of Daniel that was able to knock his old sensei down onto his knees. From that point on, it was all a blur. A tournament was set to settle the score between the three dojos, once and for all. Finally, everything could be laid out to rest.

As Johnny moved to walk back towards his van, he felt a pair of hands gripping at his arm and shoulder, almost as if they were holding him up. It was the lightest he felt in a while, the ringing drowning out the soft voices that spoke to him.

"Okay, Johnny, just--Sit here for a moment." Daniel's voice was soft as he and Miguel gently sat the man onto the curb of the sidewalk, a little ways away from the Cobra Kai dojo.

Johnny hadn't even realized that they had begun walking in the first place, nor did he notice the hands wrapping around him. His own hands seemed to hold himself as he curled into a ball, teeth chattering as a dull ache formed in his chest. A familiar sense of dread washed over him as he realized what was happening, a hand sacrificing itself for comfort to shakily feel around his neck. Those hands were there, sucking the life out of him for a second time. Again. Sucking in a heavy breath, Johnny's hand wrapped around his neck, not even realizing the tears that fell from his face onto the ground below.

His body didn't mean to flinch when Miguel reached out to touch his back, it was a pussy move for sure, but one that Johnny couldn't help. He knew this dance very well, he needed to tell Miguel that he was okay, that he was a man and men don't get panic attacks, but the words wouldn't form. Johnny was left speechless.

After a few moments of silence and trying to find the words, Miguel sat next to him and tried to calm him down, speaking soothing words in a low voice as Johnny trembled beside him. It wasn't long before Sam joined them and Daniel soon after with a bottle of water from the convenience store. Johnny didn't drink the water, though, he refused to even make an attempt to reach out for it.

"Hey...it's okay. We're here, we got you." Daniel's voice was just as soft as Miguel's, Johnny had noticed. "You don't have to talk, you can just listen. Are you here with us?"

It took Johnny a moment, but he gave a small nod in response.

"Good. That's good, just keep listening." Daniel shifted to settle in front of Johnny, moving to crane himself so that he could look Johnny in the eyes. "Now, I know it may seem scary, but I need you to move your hand for a moment. I just need to see the damage."

Johnny's hand clasped tighter around his neck, shielding it further from harm.

"No--No, it's okay. I'm not going to touch you. See?" Daniel's hands moved up in front of Johnny's face before taking Sam's hands to hold. "Look, I'm holding onto Sam. My hands won't leave hers, okay? They won't go anywhere near you, I promise."

It took Johnny a moment to register Daniel's movements, watching to see if it really was safe or if Kreese would appear from the shadows to do it again. Letting out a shaky sigh, Johnny's trembling hand moved slowly away from his neck, giving Daniel a chance to take a glimpse at the damage. Bruises were starting to form next to a few cuts from the man's nails. It didn't look like it would need any attention from the hospital, which had Daniel relieved. Being quick, Daniel dropped Sam's hands and quickly grabbed both of Johnny's, gripping them tight so that they wouldn't move back up around his neck again. Johnny's body tensed up, ready to attack and throw off his assaulter as his breath quickened again.

"Hey--Hey, it's okay! I just got your hands, I just got your hands, you're okay. You're okay." Daniel was quick to go back into his soothing voice as he kept his grip on Johnny's hands firm.

It didn't take much more convincing to get Johnny into a better state of relaxation. He wasn't in a state of panic as much anymore, but he still wasn't fully okay. Daniel couldn't blame him for that, the trauma of having to live through such an event yet again must have been awful for the other. Eventually, when Daniel knew that Johnny had control over his hands again, he let them slip from his own before he let out a shaky sigh of his own.

"Okay, let's all go home. We have a lot of work to do in the morning, we need to talk things over. Johnny, you can ride home with me." Daniel turned to Sam and Miguel, looking at the two of them with a bit of concern. "Samantha, take Miguel with you in the van, we'll drive it back to the house and they can stay with us tonight."

Despite the protest Johnny wanted to give about being fine, he couldn't muster up the words. His mouth wouldn't move and he couldn't pull away from the gentle nudging of Daniel walking him to his car. Sleeping at LaRusso's house was even worse on the nerves, but Johnny knew one thing for sure. He couldn't let this happen again.

Fear can't win his life over forever.

He has to get stronger.

_Stronger._

**_Stronger._ **


End file.
